MORE DEER COVERAGE • 2004 Deer Outlook, Part 1 • 2004 Rut Report in North American Whitetail Forums

By John McCoy

Whatever last year's West Virginia deer-hunting seasons might have lacked in quantity, they more than made up for in quality. A total of 103 bucks killed during the 2003 buck, bow and muzzleloader seasons qualified for inclusion in the state's Big Buck Club, a contest co-sponsored by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (DNR), the Izaak Walton League and the West Virginia Bowhunters' Association.

That total represents an increase of 20 percent from the preceding year's total. Interestingly, the number of trophies climbed sharply despite a precipitous drop in the overall deer kill. The buck kill fell 24 percent, the bow kill 20 percent and the muzzleloader kill 7 percent.

Hunters brought in 20 percent fewer bucks for scoring - just 271 statewide, down from 340 in 2002. Yet the number of bucks that met the minimum scoring criteria increased by the same percentage.

"That proves that last year's buck quality was very, very good," said Gene Thorn, the DNR biologist who coordinates the Big Buck Club. "Not only did we have an increase in the number of bucks that earned Big Buck recognition, we had three bucks break into our top five all-time rankings."

Just as encouraging was the trophies' relatively widespread distribution. Twenty-seven of the state's 55 counties placed at least one deer on the Big Buck list.

Thorn credits the rise in buck quality and the increase in distribution to the effectiveness of the DNR's whitetail management plan.

"I think it speaks well for the plan," he said. "The more we focus on taking antlerless deer out of the population, the more bucks we'll have living to old age. The last several years, we've made significant progress in getting hunters to kill more antlerless deer. We're starting to see the increase in buck size that comes with that."

He said the 2003 Big Buck Club roster is convincing evidence. In order to make the club, a gun-killed typical buck must score at least 140 Boone and Crockett (B&C) points, a non-typical at least 165 points. A bow-killed typical must score at least 125 Pope and Young (P&Y) points, a non-typical 155 points.

Logan County ranks as the top trophy producer. Long overshadowed by neighboring Wyoming and McDowell counties, Logan came on strong last year. The largest of its state-leading 17 trophies was a bow-killed typical taken by Larry Gallihue. The buck scored 157 7/8 and ranks fourth among all typical archery kills. Not far behind Gallihue's buck was Gregory Toler's 151 6/8-inch wallhanger. It ranks 10th. Harold Elswick's 150 7/8 typical ranks 12th, and William Hatfield's 148 3/8 typical ranks 14th.

For a county that has no public hunting land to speak of, that's pretty darned impressive.

Logan's secret, of course, is that it has been closed to firearms hunting since 1979. Its whitetail herd, while still not as plentiful as most other counties, has established a near-ideal doe-to-buck ratio. Bowhunting's relatively light impact on the deer population allows many of the county's bucks to grow to eye-popping size.

The same is true for McDowell, Wyoming and Mingo counties, the next three top trophy producers. Bowhunting-only regulations have earned them national renown among bowhunters, and for good reason. Six of West Virginia's top 12 all-time biggest bucks were killed in archery-only counties.

Photo by BillKinney.com

Until Logan dropped it to the No. 2 slot, McDowell County had been the state's big-buck kingpin. Despite its demotion, it's still a pretty darned good place to take a big buck.

Hunters killed 16 Big Buck Club nominees within its borders last season. The biggest was a whitetail taken by Bill Gibson, which scored 157 1/8 and ranks fifth among bow-killed typicals. McDowell bucks taken by Fred Chaffins, Terry Cline and Harold Blankenship rank among the top 20 typicals.

Fortunately for hunters, public-hunting land is fairly abundant in the county. The 18,000-acre Berwind Lake Wildlife Management Area (WMA) near Welch and the 10,640-acre Panther State Forest (SF) near Panther are the largest tracts. The 2,308-acre Tug Fork WMA near Premier and the 1,792-acre Anawalt Lake WMA near Anawalt provide slightly less room than Berwind or Panther, but are equally productive habitat.

Of the four bow-only counties, Wyoming County came closest to duplicating hunters' statewide performance. Though its overall number of trophy bucks dropped from 14 to 11, the quality of those bucks was unsurpassed.

Three of the racks rank among the state's all-time best. Curtis Blankenship of Cyclone bagged a titanic 12-pointer that scored 170 7/8 and was 2003's top-scoring bow-killed typical. Blankenship's buck earned him a tie for the fifth spot in the West Virginia record book.

Chris Clark of Mullens opened a lot of eyes when he bagged a huge 14-point non-typical just before the bow season closed. The big buck, profiled in the August issue of West Virginia Game & Fish, scored 191 2/8. It was the third-largest bow-killed non-typical ever taken in the Mountain State!

Clark's kill eclipsed a buck taken much earlier in the season by James Bishop of Princeton. Bishop's trophy scores 188 6/8 and moved into the record books as the sixth largest bow-killed non-typical ever.

The 17,280-acre R.D. Bailey Lake WMA near Baileysville is the county's largest tract of public-hunting land. Its steep ridges and deep hollows surround a 630-acre U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flood-control impoundment.

The last of the four bow-only counties, Mingo, yielded nine Big Buck Club members in 2003.

Two of those whitetails rank among last year's top 10 typical archery kills. Paul Messer's buck, which scored 161 0/8, took second-place honors. Charles Bumgarner's buck ranks seventh at 156 0/8 inches.

Of the "big four" bow-only counties, Mingo probably is the most overlooked. It has fewer deer than the others, and its antiquated road system limits outsiders' access to its whitetail resource.

The 12,854-acre Laurel Lake WMA near Lenore is the county's piece of public property the county has to offer. Its tall hardwoods attract plenty of deer, but its thick undergrowth makes bowhunting a challenge.

Most people wouldn't expect Kanawha County to rank among the state's best trophy counties. The heavily populated and industrialized Kanawha Valley gobbles up a sizable chunk of the county's 903-square-mile landmass, and suburban sprawl extends well beyond the valley's confines. The habitat that remains, however, holds more than its share of big-antlered bucks. Eight of them made the Big Buck Club last year.

Six of the eight were gun kills. John Riddle had the largest, a bruiser that scored 155 6/8 and ranks ninth among gun-killed typicals. Not far behind was Cecil Terry's typical, which scored 146 6/8.

Among the archery kills, Bobby Beasley's buck ranked 55th at 130 0/8. David Crookshanks' buck ties for 66th at 126 6/8.

As one might expect from such a heavily populated area, Kanawha County's public-hunting opportunities are fairly limited. The 9,250-acre Kanawha State Forest just south of Charleston is a relatively untapped resource, mainly because hunters must compete with hordes of hikers, mountain bikers, birders and nature enthusiasts from the nearby city. Rewards can be handsome, however, for hunters who make the effort to hike far back into the forest's remote regions.

A portion of the 9,874-acre Morris Creek WMA also extends into Kanawha County, although the bulk of the tract lies in Clay County.

Raleigh County is much like Kanawha - populated in the middle and rural around the edges. It also is a top trophy producer.

Hunters bagged six Big Buck Club nominees within Raleigh's borders last year. All of them made the list by comfortable margins. A few of them were out-and-out whoppers.

All four of Raleigh's gun kills ranked among the state's top 12 typicals. Bill Lewis' buck, for example, scored 161 6/8 that ranked fourth. It finished one spot ahead of Daniel Williams' buck, which scored 160 0/8. Josh Williams' buck ranks 10th at 153 5/8, and Douglas Hager's buck ranks 12th at 147 0/8.

Public-land opportunities are adequate, but difficult to find. There are no state-owned WMAs or state forests, but a sizable chunk of the federally controlled New River Gorge National River cuts through the county. Unlike most National Park Service land, the New River property is open to hunters.

Raleigh's neighbor to the north, Fayette County, offers similar terrain and trophy potential. The New River Gorge's federal lands give hunters plenty of prime habitat to hunt, as do the 3,201-acre Plum Orchard Lake WMA near Pax and the 3,061-acre Beury Mountain WMA near Babcock State Park.

It isn't terribly surprising, then, that Fayette's hunters bagged four bucks that made last year's Big Buck Club. Quinton Smith's gun-killed non-typical ranks second in that category with a B&C score of 183 1/8. Johny Jackson's buck scored 151 5/8 to rank 11th among bow-killed typicals.

Another south-central county, Nicholas, also produced four Big Buck Club members. With terrain similar to neighboring Fayette County, one would expect little else.

Nicholas has long had a reputation for harboring trophy bucks - not many of them, but some extremely nice ones. The state-record gun-killed typical, for example, was killed near Nettie in 1994 by county resident Junior Bailes. The beautifully symmetrical 10-pointer scored a whopping 185 4/8.

All of Nicholas' 2003 Big Buck nominees scored well, too. James Keener Jr.'s trophy ranked seventh among gun-killed typicals at 156 5/8. Phillip Meadows' buck scored 143 7/8, which ties it for 14th with John Smallwood's Nicholas County whitetail.

The county's best bow kill was no slouch, either. Mike Genin's buck ranks sixth among bow-killed typicals with 156 5/8 points.

A sizable chunk of the Monongahela National Forest's (NF) 158,147-acre Cranberry WMA encompasses the portion of Nicholas County northeast of Richwood. The 5,974-acre Summersville Lake WMA lies just off U.S. Hwy. 19 near Summersville.

Three other southern counties produced three Big Buck Club members apiece.

Of the three, Wayne County offers the best public-hunting opportunities. The 22,928-acre East Lynn Lake WMA sprawls through the countryside around its namesake impoundment. The 8,125-acre Cabwaylingo SF also lies completely within the county's borders, as does a sizable chunk of the 7,531-acre Beech Fork Lake WMA.

One of last year's biggest bucks came from Wayne's rolling hills and wooded hollows. Joe Adkins of Ranger bagged a 14-pointer, which scored 167 3/8 and ranks first in the gun-killed typical category for last season.

Wayne's other Big Buck nominees were bow-killed typicals. Mark Robinson's buck ranks 36th at 134 4/8, and Steve Parker's tied for 66th at 126 6/8.

Mercer County's public opportunities are no slouch, either. A small portion of the 18,019-acre Bluestone Lake WMA extends within the county's boundary near Lerona. The 5,987-acre Camp Creek SF near Camp Creek and the 500-acre Tate Lohr WMA near Oakvale lie completely within the county.

All of Mercer's Big Buck Club nominees were bow kills with typical racks. Mark Basham's buck scored 144 6/8 to place 18th in the category. Perry Taylor's buck ranks 53rd at 130 3/8, and Gary Meadows' buck ranks 63rd at 127 5/8.

Boone County always seems to produce a fair number of trophies, and last year was no exception. Arnold May's gun-killed buck ranks 18th in the typical category at 141 6/8, just 1/8 inch larger than Micky Christian's trophy. Steve Ellis, Jr.'s buck ranks 49th in the bow-killed typical division at 131 7/8. The 7,000-acre Fork Creek WMA near Nellis is the county's only public-hunting opportunity.

Only two other counties - Clay and Jackson - produced more than one trophy apiece. Each had two.

Both of Clay County's are whoppers. Naaman Moore's buck ranks second among gun-killed typicals with a score of 165 5/8; Tommy Dunlap's finished just four places behind at 159 4/8.

Clay County contains sizable portions of two major public hunting tracts - 11,757-acre Wallback WMA near Wallback and 9,874-acre Morris Creek WMA near Clendenin.

The bigger of Jackson County's two Big Buck nominees belonged to Crystal Bare. Her trophy, a gun-killed typical that scored 142 6/8, tied for 14th in that category. Joseph Pursley's typical ranks 36th among bow kills with a 134 7/8 total.

Jackson's public hunting aficionados have to make do with just two relatively small WMAs. The Frozen Camp WMA near Marshall is the larger of the two at 2,735 acres. The Woodrum Lake WMA near Kentuck encompasses just 1,700 steeply sloped acres.

A few of the solitary trophies are worth noting because they hail from counties where public land is fairly abundant.

Taylor County, for example, yielded last year's third-largest gun-killed typical. Taken by Mike Heldreth, the trophy buck scored 162 5/8. The 3,030-acre Pleasant Creek WMA near Philippi and the 1,764-acre Pruntytown WMA near its namesake community provide fine hunting for whitetails.

Jeffery Life's Tucker County wallhanger also opened some eyes. It ranks third in the bow-killed non-typical category with a score of 158 0/8. Portions of the Monongahela NF's gigantic Blackwater, Potomac and Otter Creek WMAs all fall within Tucker's borders, giving its hunters an abundance of public land upon which to chase such trophies.

Lewis County shouldn't be overlooked either. Douglas Hager certainly didn't, and he bagged a gun-season typical that scored 153 0/8, the state's 11th largest in that category.

Public-land hunters have two dandy options, both within 10 miles of one another. The 18,289-acre Stonewall Jackson Lake WMA near Roanoke lies entirely within the county. Neighboring Upshur County shares the 3,000-acre Stonecoal Lake WMA near Horner.

But those are only suggestions. Truth be told, trophy bucks can show up nearly anywhere. And in West Virginia, each passing year seems to bring more and more of them. For deer hunters, that's good news indeed.